PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
From left, Andrea and Rep. Brendan Crighton, their son Nathaniel, being held by Beth Garry, and Isaac Bantu at the 7th annual Lynn Democratic Committee picnic. In the background is Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, a candidate for sheriff.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — With the Democratic and GOP conventions coming soon, leaders from both parties weighed in on the candidates.
“I’m not prepared to endorse anyone because they’re both horrible candidates,” said John Krol, chairman of the Lynn Republican City Committee. “It’s like having to choose between Ebola and malaria. That’s how I feel about Clinton and Trump.”
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is “not even a real Republican,” he said. Trump has changed party affiliation five times in the past 25 years, he added.
The Republican National Convention is set for July 18 to 21 in Cleveland while the Democrats will meet a week later from July 25 to 28 in Philadelphia.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) is a superdelegate for Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. He criticized Trump last week for praising Saddam Hussein, the former Iraq dictator. He echoed those sentiments, while also praising Clinton, Sunday at the Lynn Democratic City Committee’s family cookout and food drive at the Lynn Museum & Historical Society.
“I’m excited,” Moulton said. “We have one of the most experienced presidential candidates that America has ever seen. She’s going to win this election, but we’re going to work hard every step of the way. The stakes of this election are very high…On the other hand, we have a racist who admires dictators and will be dangerous for our country and for our troops.”
Still, Trump trounced his GOP opponents in Essex county in the primary with a whopping 43,629 votes. His closest competitor was John Kasich, who trailed with just 14,629 votes.
Stephen Zykofsky represents the third Essex senatorial district for the Republican State Committee, which represents Lynn, Saugus, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Swampscott and Nahant. He said Trump will be nominated in Cleveland.
“Whoever the convention nominates is the individual I will support,” Zykofsky said.
Trump has a “strong chance” of winning the general election in November, he said, because the Democrats will likely nominate Clinton. Clinton’s reputation is “so bad,” and she has “brazenly lied to the American people,” he added.
A U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State yielded no criminal charges. But the U.S. State Department is reopening its internal investigation.
“I can’t see the people supporting her,” Zykofsky said.
He praised Trump as a successful businessman and said his message of unhappiness with the Obama administration will resonate with voters.
In the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders won Essex County by 815 votes, beating Clinton with 66,494 votes to her 65,679.
Democrats took an opposite tack, commending Clinton, while expressing unease about Trump.
That list included Secretary of State William Galvin, and a pledged delegate for Clinton.
“I think, we as a party, have to promote the success of the ticket because obviously the alternative would be very bad for the country: Mr. Trump,” Galvin said.
State Rep. and City Council President Daniel Cahill said he was more focused on Massachusetts and Lynn, but will vote for Clinton.
“She’s the most qualified candidate and I think she’ll be the next president of the United States,” he said.
Lynn Police Chief and candidate for Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger and Drew Russo, vice-chairman of the Democratic City Committee, support Clinton. Russo is also a Clinton delegate. Lynn Democrats Sen. Thomas McGee and Rep. Brendan Crighton are backing Clinton. McGee is a superdelegate for Clinton.
“I’m looking forward to Democrats from all over the country coming together to build a strong Democratic victory in November,” McGee said.
Crighton said there are a lot of Massachusetts Democrats that are enthused about the race.
“We need to make sure everyone is tuning in and staying engaged despite all of the nasty rhetoric surrounding this campaign,” he said.
Lynn Republicans will have their turn to gather on Saturday, when the Lynn Republican City Committee holds its cookout and auction at Krol’s home from 1 to 5 p.m.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley